View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by UCL Discovery Review The future of keeping pet reptiles and amphibians: towards integrating animal welfare, human health and environmental sustainability F. Pasmansa, S. Bogaertsb, J. Braeckmanc, A. A. Cunninghamd, T. Hellebuycka*, R. A. Griffithse, M. Sparreboomf, B. R. Schmidtg,h, A. Martela a Department of Pathology, Bacteriology and Avian Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium b Lupinelaan 25, NL5582CG Waalre, The Netherlands cDepartment of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Ghent University, Blandijnberg 2, 9000 Ghent, Belgium dInstitute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4RY, United Kingdom e Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NR, UK fNaturalis Biodiversity Center, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands g Info Fauna KARCH, Passage Maximilien-de-Meuron 6, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland h Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland *Corresponding author. Tel.: 32 9 264 7441 E-mail address:
[email protected] (T. Hellebuyck) 1 Abstract The keeping of exotic pets is currently under debate and governments of several countries are increasingly exploring the regulation, or even the banning, of exotic pet keeping. Major concerns are issues of public health and safety, animal welfare and biodiversity conservation. The keeping of reptiles and amphibians in captivity encompasses all the potential issues identified with keeping exotic pets, and many of those relating to traditional domestic pets.